HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Welcome to 2009!

Hello All,

It is a Thursday, January 1st, 2009!!! And it occured to me last night, that I've looked forward to this year all my life! There are no flying cars and no one is living on Mars as of yet, but still, I just have a good feeling about this year ahead of us....

so HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!!! I hope this year brings each and everyone of us health, peace, love, joy, beauty, strength, grace & much, much happiness!

I had a great NYE (New Year's Eve) Celebration last night, despite not feeling great physically. I made a delicious dinner of Talapia, BBQ'd Black Beans (w/ homemade BBQ Sauce--thank you very much!) and Noodles. For dessert, we had sinfully delicious Blackberry Sorbet in Perseco (Italian Champagne), and oh la, la, was it ever heavenly! Wow!

NYE is the one day of the year I give myself permission to drink a bit, not a lot, as it takes all of six sips to get me drunk off my butt, and I hate being drunk, so stupid and not fun at all! But, that Italian Champange was exquisite, and the best part was it only $3.99 a bottle--what a deal!

Colin & I rocked out while watching a Bon Jovi concert on TV and I must say, I'm so glad my man's favorite band of all time has a really cute lead singer! I love my guy, but let's face it ladies, Bon Jovi is easy on the eyes! I enjoyed both the sights and the sounds! It was a lot of fun!

Then around midnight, my mom called in from her second job and counted down with us over the phone! That was nice! Colin & I could hear the awesome fireworks display from our house, that was cool--at one point it sounded like the world was coming to an end, but what a sight to see (on TV)! Then, Colin & I stayed up until about 2am and watched the people in New York (repeat, of course) count down two more times! All and all, I had a great night and it was a lot of fun!

I slept until noon today, but in all fairness, I woke up about every half an hour last night. Now I know why I don't drink except for once a year. I didn't get drunk, in fact, I don't even think I got tipsy because I drank the Perseco ever so indulgently over the course of about four hours, but anyway, I'm feeling more & more awake as I type this! Yay!

I wanted to share a New Year's Prayer I got from my Grandma Joni:

New Years Prayer



Holy Father,

God of our yesterdays, our today, and our tomorrows.

We praise You for Your unequaled greatness.

Thank You for the year behind us and for the year ahead.

Help us in Your new year, Father, to fret less and laugh more.

To teach our children to laugh by laughing with them.

To teach others to love by loving them.

Knowing, when Love came to the stable in Bethlehem, He came for us.

So that Love could be with us, and we could know You.

That we could share Love with others.

Help us, Father, to hear Your love song in every sunrise,

in the chirping of sparrows in our backyards,

in the stories of our old folks, and the fantasies of our children.

Help us to stop and listen to Your love songs,

so that we may know You better and better.

We rejoice in the world You loved into being.

Thank You for another new year and for new chances every day.

We pray for peace, for light, and for hope, that we might spread them to others.

Forgive us for falling short this past year.

We leave the irreparable past in your hands, and step out into the unknown new year knowing You will go with us.

We accept Your gift of a new year and we rejoice in what's ahead, depending on You to help us do exactly what You want..

I say it again, we rejoice!

In Jesus name,

Amen.


Now, even if one isn't necessarily Christian, it can't hurt to put in a good word to the great One above, for a healthy, happy, successful, and most of all, (Positively) Spiritual-Driven year!

I couldn't have put my own prayer for the new year any better than that!

This is the I'm getting married, this is the year I'm 25. In many ways, I feel like this will be my breakout year! I'm not a psysic, and of course, I don't know for sure. And I do not think this year will be absolutely smooth sailing or void of conflict or complication what so ever; I'm sure it won't be. But I'll be darned if I'm going to sit here and create a year of doom for myself.....

Last year, I had a gut feeling that 2008 would be a struggle, (I wasn't wrong) today, I have a gut feeling that 2009 is going to be grand! So, I'm going with it! I'll take it one day at a time, as it comes, and try and live each day of it to the fullest, with laughter & love and no doubt, a few lessons along the way!

I absolutely love how the world comes together on New Year's Eve! There's such a feeling of love and hope and positivity! Perhaps every day can't be like Christmas, but I think if everyday were like New Year's Eve (minus the drunken fools), this world would accomplish a lot. And then we'd really be leaps and bounds ahead of ourselves! But alas, today is New Year's Day and it's back to normal. I do think the suckiness (not a word, I'm sure, but oh well) of 2008 gave all of us a darn good reason to party hard and be optimistic last night! You know what they say, after the rain, comes the sun! And I think that'll prove to be true this year!

That doesn't mean we won't encounter hardships, or that the world will not see its fair share of crap and ugliness.

However, perhaps we can continue coming together in the spirit of love and hope and optimism!

That is my hope and prayer for all of us, my family, friends and the world over! Thank you, Lord, for this new year, second chances and new beginings! Please continue to walk with all of us and continue to bless us as You see fit! And thank you for the pure enjoyment of last night! Here's to many fabulous times ahead....

Welcome 2009, we are so glad you're here!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

In Light N' Love,
-Sarah Liz :)

Giving Back & Other Favorite Charities!

Just a quick plug for a few charities, old and new, that I found!

Yesterday, I spoke about giving more in the coming year, and today, as I was browsing the Internet, I found a great way to do that! We've all heard (or seen the commercial on TV) about GlobalGiving.org, and that's great. But, this website provides us with actual goods, clothes, lotions, potions, jewelry and all sorts of things....its a website where you can shop for really unique items (and a few every day necessities as well) for a great price (not bank-breaking prices like a lot of those "charitable-sell" sites). Check it out, and keep it in mind this year for all of your female gift-giving needs:

www.globalgirlfriend.org

My favorite things I found on there were:

Feeding the hungry in my own country is my charity of choice this year. Food banks all across the nation have seen an increase in need and in demand. With people losing their jobs and their homes, something as precious and necessary as food on the table is harder to obtain.

Feed a U.S. Family for Only $25:
http://www.globalgirlfriend.com/gifts/item.do?itemId=32360&siteId=344&sourceId=32524&sourceClass=SuggestedItem&index=2

Honestly, there are so many millions & millions of Americans who go to bed hungry every night. Men, women and children of ALL ages living right here in the United States. How sad. I'm all for global giving, but I think it's really difficult to uplift the world when we fail so many times, at uplifting our own. And I know we're all on a budget, but for just $25, you can feed a family for four for a week or two. How incredible is that? Don't have $25, fine, just donate whatever you can to your local food bank, or Feeding America.org (Formerly America's Second Harvest). So, instead of cluttering our homes with more stuff we probably don't need, I suggest we start feeding those in need. Just my opinion. And by the way, yes, I did donate to my local food bank while shopping at the grocery store last month--couldn't get much easier than that, I was already there to begin with!)

Plant Some Trees: they provide oxygen as well as beauty and wonder!
http://www.globalgirlfriend.com/gifts/item.do?itemId=32652&siteId=344&sourceId=32250&sourceClass=SuggestedItem&index=3

Recycled Mouse Pads--most of us use them everyday, why not make it better for our environment?
http://www.globalgirlfriend.com/gifts/item.do?itemId=31968&siteId=344&sourceId=32524&sourceClass=SuggestedItem&index=1

Underwear: these are pretty cute and look really comfy, I think I'll order myself a pair! (It beats paying $20 for a single pair at those expensive lingerie shops! By the way,I will be frequenting those for my wedding night, but still,these underwear just look cute!)
http://www.globalgirlfriend.com/gifts/item.do?itemId=32524&siteId=344&sourceId=34468&sourceClass=SuggestedItem&index=4

Women's Health: imperative to a woman and her family's success
http://www.globalgirlfriend.com/gifts/item.do?itemId=32250&siteId=344&sourceId=1096&sourceClass=Category&index=20

Beautiful Note Card Set: for those few and far between hand-written notes!
http://www.globalgirlfriend.com/gifts/item.do?itemId=31900&siteId=344&sourceId=1093&sourceClass=Category&index=13

Some really cute clothes--dresses, skirts, tops:
http://www.globalgirlfriend.com/gifts/item.do?itemId=31907&siteId=344&sourceId=31968&sourceClass=SuggestedItem&index=3

http://www.globalgirlfriend.com/gifts/item.do?itemId=31887&siteId=344&sourceId=31907&sourceClass=SuggestedItem&index=1

http://www.globalgirlfriend.com/gifts/item.do?itemId=34365&siteId=344&sourceId=31887&sourceClass=SuggestedItem&index=2

http://www.globalgirlfriend.com/gifts/item.do?itemId=34570&siteId=344&sourceId=34365&sourceClass=SuggestedItem&index=5

http://www.globalgirlfriend.com/gifts/item.do?itemId=31076&siteId=344&sourceId=34570&sourceClass=SuggestedItem&index=1

http://www.globalgirlfriend.com/gifts/item.do?itemId=31902&siteId=344&sourceId=1124&sourceClass=Category&index=13

http://www.globalgirlfriend.com/gifts/item.do?itemId=32525&siteId=344&sourceId=1124&sourceClass=Category&index=4

Earings:
http://www.globalgirlfriend.com/gifts/category.do?categoryId=2604&link=Store_GGF_LeftNav_2604&siteId=344

Global Education: I think-make that, I know-- the State of Nevada (and America) could use some of its own rescuing in terms of education, but still, millions around the world don't even have the opportunity to go school at all, so here are some ways to help:

Build a School in Nepal:
http://www.globalgirlfriend.com/gifts/item.do?itemId=30691&siteId=344&sourceId=1096&sourceClass=Category&index=40

School Shoes:
http://www.globalgirlfriend.com/gifts/item.do?itemId=29107&siteId=344&sourceId=1096&sourceClass=Category&index=5

School for Girls in Afghanistan:
http://www.globalgirlfriend.com/gifts/item.do?itemId=29377&siteId=344&sourceId=1096&sourceClass=Category&index=1

School Uniforms:
http://www.globalgirlfriend.com/gifts/item.do?itemId=28032&siteId=344&sourceId=1096&sourceClass=Category&index=21

Other Global-Centered Gifts that Give More: from Habitat Preservation, Clean Water Assistance, Education, Animal Rights/Protection & Conservation, to Child-Birth, Helath-Needs, Farming & More.
http://www.globalgirlfriend.com/gifts/category.do?siteId=344&categoryId=2704&page=1&view=75&link=Store_GGF_View_75

Some of my other favorite charities include:

Heifer Organization: even though I'm a vegatarian, it's obvious that people and animals need one another! This is a great organization I first heard about back in 2003, in Sociology class; it was the best thing I learned in that class! Check it out!
http://www.heifer.org/

Street Teens (to help kids on the street in Vegas--a very tough town, honestly a problem in a my own backyard--but this organization, or some form of it, really should be in every city!):
http://www.streetteens.org/

Feeding America (America's Second Harvest):
http://feedingamerica.org/?show_shov=1

And of course, ANY organization that helps sick children scores high in my book, being that I am a former (and sometimes still) chronically sick "child," myself.

St. Judes Children's Research Hospital: okay, so they receive millions in donations every single year, especially around the holiday season. But, still, they do great work. And the ability to get your sick child help even if you don't have any money, that simply cannot be overlooked. This is a charity I donate to every single year!
http://www.stjude.org/stjude/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=f2bfab46cb118010VgnVCM1000000e2015acRCRD

Shriner's Children's Hospital: kind of like St. Jude's, except they deal with all illnesses, not just cancer. Burns, cleft lips, spinal chord injuries, etc...
http://www.shrinershq.org/Hospitals/Main/

UCSF: "consistently ranked one of the nation's top hospitals." And, where I had 90% of my 30+ surgeries performed, a truly outstanding hospital that is a great place to xperience not such fun stuff! If you look long enough, you might even find information about my incredible surgeon, Dr. Michael Harrison...
http://www.ucsfhealth.org/childrens/

Okay, so there's my heads up charitable contribution (suggestions) for 2009!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

In Light N' Love,
-Sarah Liz :)

P.S. Thank you, Lord, for the awareness of others less forunate than myself and the opportunity to give in whatever way I can! As always, thank You for my blessings too! :)